Update, 10 months post-op

December 9, 2009

My 10 month anniversary flew by so fast I didn’t even notice – in fact a fellow Meningioma blogger had to remind me – thanks Lesly!

On the 28th Nov, my actual anniversary, I was preparing to head to NYC to direct a photoshoot for one of my clients. That pretty much says it all, I am back on my game at work leading a huge project and enjoying not having any health issues holding me back.

It’s been a turbulent year though, and I still struggle with my sense of perspective at work. Bizarrely I care WAY too much about it. You’d think I’d have a healthy sense of “this isn’t brain surgery”, but apparently not. Oh well, let’s just call it work in progress!

I had a follow-up with my neurologist last month and there is no sign of tumour regrowth! There is also no sign of my sense of smell, even though I still have one olfactory tract left. More and more I realise that I don’t taste much of my food. I rely on my memory of food tastes, and texture and colour are everything. When I taste something new I often have no idea what it is (this happened the other day). Not because I couldn’t place the flavour, but because I just couldn’t taste anything! So now I accept it, I have no sense of smell and I can’t taste much either.

My next surgical follow-up is in April 2010, and so far everything is good :)

I am now 3 1/2 weeks after surgery for meningioma and have no clue what to expect in my recovery days, how long it will take, or just hard I can push myself? Are there going to be permanent changes as time goes on either good or bad?

Hi Gerry. If you push yourself too hard your body will tell you very quickly. You’ll learn what your limits are (different for us all), but day by day you will notice improvements. And when you look back on last week you will see huge differences. Sleep when you need to sleep, and pay attention to what makes you tired and slowly increase your exposure to that thing. For me sensory overload was exhausting – lots of movement, sounds etc. At first I could only handle the mall for 20 mins without then needing to sleep for 2 hours!

Carolyn, not being able to smell sucks. I am used to it now, but sometimes it can be hard to explain to strangers without getting into the big story. I used to wonder how much I could taste compared to before, but now I don’t torture myself over it. I’ll never know the nuances of how a good wine smells or tastes, but I still know what I do and don’t like!

About me and this blog

This blog is about navigating a glitch in the road. On Dec 2nd 2008 I found out I had an Olfactory Groove Meningioma, a benign tumour on the meninges — the membranes that surround your brain and spinal cord.

The little bugger was removed surgically by craniotomy on Jan 28th 2009. Recent times have led me to spend a lot of time with my GP, neurosurgeon, neurologist, naturopath, and osteopath, and this is an account from diagnosis through recovery.

I hope this provides some insight to family, friends, and those who are embarking on the same journey. In my own insignificant way, I'd like to raise awareness of meningiomas and help in early detection, if just for one person.